This invention relates to governors and more particularly to an improved governor for controlling the pitch of blades in a wind motor or windmill.
A common design for a windmill or a wind motor includes two or more blades connected through a hub and a shaft to drive, for example, an electric generator or a pump. One difficulty with driving an electric generator is that the blades of the windmill rotate at varying speeds in different wind conditions. Under very high wind conditions, the blades of the windmill can rotate at a sufficiently high velocity as to destroy either the blades or the internal windmill mechanism, or both. This can create a very dangerous situation where parts from the windmill can be thrown for great distances when the windmill fails in high wind conditions. This type of failure for the windmill severely reduces the suitability for using windmills to produce electrical power in densely populated areas. The development of high rotational speeds by a windmill can result in very expensive and extensive damage to the windmill and to an electric power generator driven by the windmill.
One solution to limiting the speed of windmills during high wind conditions has been through the use of speed governors which feather or change the pitch of the blades as the speed increases. The feathering of the windmill blades reduces the effectiveness of the blades in converting the wind energy into rotational energy and, therefore, limits the speed at which the blades are driven. Some difficulty has occurred in prior art windmill governors in obtaining a simple reliable control which will simultaneously and equally feather all blades to limit the windmill speed. If the blades are not feathered equally and simultaneously, they may be subject to destructive forces under high wind conditions. It is also desirable to have a windmill speed governor which is inexpensive and highly reliable since the windmill may be in operation continuously over a long period of time.